Two Seconds Makes the Game

The Redhawks took the court last night at Denver’s Magness Arena with Chris Gweth getting the start instead of Chuck Garcia. Gweth made an immediate impact in the game, putting 5 points on the board early and continuing to be a major factor in the first half, scoring 13. Still hindered by a back injury and limited this week in practice, it wasn’t long before Chuck Garcia made his appearance. Within minutes, Garcia had already drawn two fouls and hit a 3 pointer and impressive dunk. Widely thought to be a potential first round pick in the NBA draft, scouts were in the house to check out the SU frontman. Every NBA team has sent reps to watch Garcia this season; the Detroit Pistons visiting a whopping four times on the year.

Bad passes and early turnovers stung DU in the first half, but the Pioneers were able to hang on to a tight game by nailing their shots in the field and on the line. Alex Jones, with two early fouls in the game, managed to settle down and score 11 points by the halfway mark. Garcia by this point, double and even triple teamed at times, continued to draw the charges, earning himself three fouls. With just minutes to go in the first, the Redhawks finally started to pull away and entered the second half with a 43-37 lead.

In foul trouble early, both Denver’s Kyle Williams and Charles Garcia headed to the bench with four fouls each, shortly into the second. Jones soon followed, fouling out of the game on a technical after exchanging words on the court. Gweth came in at this point to replace Garcia and Burrell stepped up his game to help the Redhawks increase their lead to 16 points before Denver began to rally with a 10-0 run. With Garcia back in the game but no longer a defensive threat with his now four fouls, the Pioneers managed to come back to within 4. At just over 5 minutes to go, it was Lever’s turn to foul out of the game with only 3 points on the night.

At just over a minute to play in the game and within 4 points again, Denver turned on the heat, managed to draw a foul, stop the clock and shoot for two – making one. In an odd turn of events, Seattle drove down for the bucket after a horn was called before the ball was inbounded. The play was reviewed (the third of the night.) After replay, it was determined that the game could not be stopped on the horn, but only the whistle. The basket counted for Seattle but Denver rallied back with a bucket of its own and turned on the full court press against Seattle.

With 26 seconds left on the clock, Boxley was called for a foul and DU shot to make it a one point game. Denver looked for the foul and found Burrell; he stepped up to the line at 1-7 on the night. Much to their dismay, he bagged them both and it was DU’s Stafford’s turn as he drove back down for an easy layup. Desperate to stop the clock, the Pioneers were all over the Redhawks and yet somehow unable to draw a foul. When the whistle was finally called and the play ruled dead, DU with no timeouts left, had wasted precious seconds off the clock. Looking for yet ANOTHER review, the teams had a chance to rest up for the final seconds of the game. Again, the question emerged – when exactly was the play deemed dead? The prior ruling had determined that play is dead at the whistle. In a controversial decision, time was added back to the clock and DU got its 2 seconds.

After finding it was Peter Harris who was fouled, he took the line for the first time of the year, missing his first and making the second. With just 4.7 seconds on the clock, Andrew Hooper, unguarded, put up an easy 3 pointer (his only bucket of the night!) for Denver’s first lead of the game. REVIEW – this time, to ensure the shot was a clear three pointer and to verify proper time on the clock. With 1.2 seconds the ruling, the Redhawks inbounded the ball to Garcia, but there was precious little he could do.

DU, trailing the Redhawks the entire game until the final 1.2 seconds, sealed the deal with a 84-83 victory at home.

2 seconds made the game.

DENVER, Colo. – The Seattle University men’s basketball team held the lead for the majority of the second half, but a late Denver rally punctuated by a three-pointer from Andrew Hooper with 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation allowed the Pioneers to pull out an 84-83 victory Tuesday night at Magness Arena.

Charles Garcia (Los Angeles, Calif.) led Seattle University with 23 points and two blocked shots, plus he pulled down seven rebounds. Chris Gweth (Beaverton, Ore.) scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half, while Cervante Burrell (Sacramento, Calif.) collected 11 points in the second half to finish with 13 points and three rebounds.

Garcia scored seven points in the first three minutes of the second half to help SeattleU extend its lead to 52-39. After a Peter Harris (Seattle, Wash.) three-pointer increased the Redhawks’ lead to 16 at 64-48 with 12 minutes left in the second half, Sabatino Chen scored seven of Denver’s next ten points as the Pioneers closed the gap to six points at 64-58.

A jumper by Gweth gave SeattleU a 77-69 lead with three minutes remaining, but Denver scored five unanswered points over the next two minutes to close within three. A three-point play from Rob Lewis brought the Pioneers within one at 80-79 with 25.7 seconds left, and Brian Stafford answered two SeattleU free throws with a basket with 11.5 seconds remaining in regulation.

On the Redhawks’ next possession, Peter Harris, playing well in his first game of the season, was fouled by Nate Rohnert. After initially blowing the whistle and calling the foul with 2.8 seconds on the clock, the referees consulted the monitor and added almost two full seconds on the clock, ruling that Rohnert committed the foul with 4.7 seconds left. Harris made one of two free throws, and Denver had enough time to find Hooper, who hit the three-point shot from the right wing to complete the Pioneer comeback.

Alex Jones (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored 11 points in the first half, but fouled out early in the second half after picking up a technical foul that counted as his fifth foul. Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) collected eight points and a game-high eight rebounds, helping SeattleU win the rebounding battle, 34-28.

Denver (9-3) scored the first four points and held the lead for the first 11 minutes of the contest, extending it to as much as six points at 23-17. A three-pointer by Garcia started a 9-1 run that allowed the Redhawks to come back and go on top, 26-24. A 9-3 SeattleU run in the final four minutes, paced by Jones’ seven points, put the visitors ahead at halftime, 43-37.

Rohnert shot 9-of-15 from the field and 15-of-17 from the free throw line to finish with 34 points, while Rob Lewis contributed 19 points and six rebounds and Chen added 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocked shots. Chase Hallam finished with eight points, five rebounds, and five assists.

Both teams shot 50 percent from the field, with SeattleU hitting 28-of-56 field goal attempts and Denver converting on 23-of-46 shots from the field. Each team made four three-pointers, and the Pioneers shot 34-of-44 from the free throw line, while SeattleU went 23-of-34 from the charity stripe. The Redhawks committed 15 turnovers while forcing 17 turnovers by Denver.

Seattle University (6-7) will reconvene in Seattle after Christmas for a couple days of practice before heading to Los Angeles for a contest against Loyola Marymount next Wednesday, Dec. 30, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The Redhawks start 2010 with a home game against Harvard Saturday, Jan. 2, starting at 2 p.m. at KeyArena at Seattle Center.